Feud
by FallenOutTheWindow
Summary: An alternate ending to the 'Ben 10 Alien Force' episode 'Vendetta'. FINALLY UPDATED! Changed the rating to T... Enjoy! FINALLY UPDATED!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: There are serious spoilers for "Vendetta" in here. You've been warned. Thank's for taking the time to read this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'Ben 10 Alien Force'. If I did, Gwen and Kevin would have gotton together a long time ago.**

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The trio appeared on Ragnarok's ship, the cold hum of the engines and dark surroundings put the three teens on edge. Taking a glance toward their surrounding Kevin turned to the other teens, "We'll split up and search. You go port, I'll go starboard."

"Hey! Who died and made you boss?" Yelled Ben. "If you got a problem with it you" Kevin yelled back poking the shorter teen in the chest, "We can cover more ground that way."

"Come on Ben," Gwen pulled Ben's arm and began to walk in the opposite direction to Kevin's retreating form. "He's going through a lot, Ben. He idolizes his father - and we have to find Ragnorok before Kevin does. I'm afraid of what he might do."

Kevin searched another corridor of the ship, looking for the escape pods he knew had to be around somewhere. Turning another corner he stopped. "Bingo!"

Pulling the access panel off from the side of the first pod he programmed and escape route quickly, wondering how he would fool Ben and Gwen into leaving. Making sure that the escape pod was set to auto-pilot he replaced the panel and ran back towards the other two.

"Kevin? Come on. He talks all tough, but he would never..." Trailed Ben, worrying what Kevin would do if they let him find Ragnorok first. "Guys. Come on. This way!" Called Kevin, running back the way he just came. "Quick in here!" Gesturing toward the escape pod, the two younger teens ran into it.

Kevin quickly hit the door button, sealing Ben and Gwen in. "Kevin, come on let us out!" Called Ben throwing himself against the door, "Where are we?" he asked turning to his cousin. "It's an escape pod," Sighed Gwen, this is what she was afraid he would do, "It's on auto-pilot straight back to Earth. There's no controls to stop it."

"I'm sorry, but this is my fight. I told you to stay out of it." Kevin looked at Gwen, "I can't risk you getting hurt." "What? Wait Kevin!" Pounding against the glass Gwen, "Let us out. Kevin, KEVIN!"

Suddenly, there was movement and both Ben and Gwen were thrown to the floor as the shuttle began to take the two back to Earth. With tears in her eyes, Gwen watched as the larger ship began to shrink into the distance behind her reflection.

Walking over to his cousin, Ben placed a hand on her shoulder, "There's nothing we can do. Come on." Ben tried to move her away form the window but Gwen pulled her shoulder out of his grasp. "We can't just leave him there. What if he gets hurt? What if he... he... dies?" She finally choked out.

Turning toward Ben she grabbed his jacket while he held her as her sobs shook her entire body. Feeling her tears wet into his shirt he pulled back far enough to see her face. "We'll save him, I promise." Gwen nodded, wiping her face she looked at him. She didn't know how, but somehow she knew that they would get Kevin back.

"RAGNOROK! WHERE ARE YOU!" Yelled Kevin, "There's no where you can hide from me!" The taller alien turned to face Kevin and smirked, "I'm about to extinguish your sun, Levin. Your world will die.

We will not meet again." "I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you," Kevin charged toward Ragnorok, morphing his fists into a hammer and a spiked mallet, swinging them at the alien.

Ragnorok dodged each of Kevin's attacks and began to blast energy beams at him. "You're not so tough without you're little friends," He gloated after striking Kevin in the chest and throwing him to the wall. "The brown hair one was a little annoying, but the girl! I can see why you would keep her around. Powerful and pretty. The things I would do to something like her..." He trailed smirking.

Kevin began to see red. The things this alien was insinuating made him feel sick. "Don't you DARE talk about Gwen like that!" Kevin yelled, charging at Ragnorok again after picking himself up off the floor. "Gwen! Is that her name? Such a delicate name. Isn't it? Too bad you wont be around long enough to see her again!"

Blasting Kevin one more time he began to enter commands into the controls satisfied with the cracking sound Kevin made against the wall. The ship began to shake as it began to absorb the sun's energy. "Perfect," The energy ran through the command centre, sparking in large arcs. Slowly the sun's energy was being sucked up and stored, ready for sale and there was no-one left to stop him.

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**Please review. I'll put up chapter 2 sometime soon. The only way for me to get any better is for you to tell me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So sorry for not updating in... Wow, has it really be a year? Real life got in the way... This has actually been typed up on my computer for a while, I just never got around to posting it. Hopefully I'll update with a third and final chapter soon. Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed and favourited this story, it's meant a lot...**

**Anyway, on with the story, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Ben10, wish I did but I don't... Sigh...**

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Ben hated seeing Gwen like this. She just sat there in the corner of the small escape pod, tear trails marking her cheeks, staring into oblivion. She looked as helpless as he felt. In a few minutes they would be arriving back at Earth, leaving Kevin to deal with Ragnorok alone. The silence in the small craft was deafening to him yet he wasn't sure what to say that would break the silence between them.

"Gwen... I- I'll...He'll be okay. I promise," He finished lamely.

Gwen didn't even look up at him, she just carried on looking out of the glass window pane behind him as if the answers to all their problems were held between the cold, hard glass and the large ship lost somewhere behind them in the inky, dark void. Falling to the floor, Ben dropped his head. Fighting back the rising feeling of hopelessness he whispered, "For both our sakes, please let him be okay."

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_...Beep...Beep...Beep..._ The noise was begining to get on Kevin's nerves. As he slowly regained consiousness the searing pain in the back his head only annoyed him further. Pulling himself upright slowly, he began to wonder how he would shut down the machine that was sucking the energy out of the sun. Stumbling to the right quickly after an arc of energy passed too close to him for comfort he began to panic. Something felt wrong. Standing up he began to stumble toward the alien in front of him. Kevin still had a job to do. Walking forward Kevin didn't notice the blood on the wall behind him. Rocks don't bleed, do they?

Ragnorok hadn't noticed that Kevin had awoken yet, instead he was focused on the view of the sun of front of him. The once large, yellow ball in space was becoming darker and shrinking. With all the energy he had absorbed from the sun had wouldn't need to do another job again. Satisfied with how much energy he was absorbing he turned around to finish off the annoying teen.

"What? Where is he?"

"Who me?" Smirked Kevin appearing from behind Ragnorok. "I'm right here. And now, I'm gonna kick your butt!" Morphing his hands into large hammers Kevin began swinging them at the villian.

Ragnorok evaded most of the hits and managed to get in a few of his own but they were both becoming exhausted, it was just a matter of who fell first. Throwing another wave of energy towards Kevin, Ragnorok hit one of the control panels causing sparks to fly, "No!"

Seeing the grey aliens reaction to the control panels being destroyed Kevin turned his attention to destroying the ship rather than Ragnorok.

"Fool! Don't you know how unstable the energy matrix can be?"

He did. In fact Kevin knew all to well how dangerous energy could be, it turned people into mosters.

Just then Kevin was thrown to the wall by a bolt of electricity from one of the consoles. Picking himself up he stepped away from the wall he was thrown against just in time for Ragnorok to throw him against another. And another. And another. Kevin was losing consciousness again, he wouldn't last much longer at this rate.

_So much for avenging you, eh Dad,_ he thought.

"Any last words, Levin?" Ragnorok pulled Kevin from the ground by the neck and began squeezing. Kevin didn't reply but looked behind the alien at the fading sun. Annoyed by his silence, Ragnorok lifted Kevin higher so that his feet no longer touched the floor, "Shame, your father was such a talker." Smirking, he threw Kevin to the floor and walked away.

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"_Entering Earth atmosphere in 3 minutes_."

Ben needed to think of something. He knew they couldn't just leave Kevin, he could get hurt. Plus Gwen would never forgive him if he did something stupid, but this was Kevin. Kevin always had to do something stupid. Smashing his fist into one of the sides of the escape pod a small panel fell down exposing a mass of wires and circuitry gathered in the walls small opening.

Turning to see if Gwen had noticed he saw she was curled up in the corner, with her arms around her legs with her head resyting on her knees. Pulling off more of the metal plating Ben saw a small console with all the wires running to and from it. The ships main computer. With an idea forming in his head, Ben turned the Omnitrix, selecting the alien that would get the job done.

Slamming down the dial he silently prayed that the Omnitrix would work properly just this once...

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**A/N2: So what do you think? Please review, and if you want to harrass me so I write the next chapter on twitter, I'm Gemma30185...**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow, so this is what this site looks like... Yeah, I haven't been here in a while, really sorry about that but look, I updated... And I have the next and final chapter _mostly_ written, just need to type up the ending. **

**Oh, and MissLevinLover, if you're there, I didn't forget you. Chazz got her fic, this is yours. I love you girls, you're my best friends... This is for you. x**

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**Beep.**

_"Gwen! Get outta here!"_

_"I'm not leaving you!"_

_"Guys, noble sentiments are great and all but if we don't get out of here in the next five minutes we're all toast either way!"_

**Beep.**

_"Great plan, genius! Now how do we get out?"_

_"I think that's where I come in."_

**Beep.**

_"Hmm, a feisty one, aren't you? Oh, the things I would do..."_

_"Let. Her. Go!"_

**Beep**

It had been almost three weeks since the incident on the way station. No one was quite sure what happened in the end, though after getting back to Earth the gang didn't seem to mind much. The only issue now was the eldest teen in the trio and the slight issue of him being stuck in a hospital bed.

After a rather bumpy landing the cousins managed to drag Kevin to help before noticing the rather large gash on Gwen's head and the cracked ribs Ben had 'failed' to notice. However, once the adrenaline wore off they were more than aware of their injuries.

Sunlight was filtering into the small hospital room, dust weaving through the room, looping around in the air providing one teen hero by the name of Benjamin Kirby Tennyson a much needed distraction from the scene in front of him. His best friend practically on his death bed and his cousin was looking so lost he wondered if Gwen was even really there.

Watching the dust swirling around, Ben barely realised how much of it he'd been breathing in until he was coughing it up again, ribs protesting against the action. The bruises were fading slowly but at least he was healing. At the time, Ben thought he'd never breathe again.

_"You! How did you get here?" Hissed Ragnorok at the cousins, unsure of where they had come from. No matter, he thought, I'll deal with them._

_Seeing the injured form of the elder teen on the floor, Gwen tried to run over to him before narrowly avoiding a large beam of energy, "Kevin!"_

_A surge of protectiveness for his cousin overwhelmed him, using his abilities in his changed form as Lodestar to bring a large metal beam down over the villain. "How'd you like that?"_

_Turning to help Gwen and Kevin, Ben didn't notice the same beam he'd just used slamming into him until it was too late, crushing the wind from him and pinning him against the wall. _

Looking over to where Gwen sat by Kevin Ben felt fear grip his heart once more, he knew that what happened had shaken them but he was worried that Gwen had been affected more than he realised. Since escaping she had barely spoken, hardly eaten and to his knowledge, hadn't willingly slept, preferring to keep a silent vigil by Kevin's bedside. The elder teen had yet to wake, after the first week he had been taken off of the ventilator and it had looked promising for a speedy recovery but now, no one was quite sure what to make of the situation. Physically he was as good as could be expected and almost back to full health, doctors had no explaination as to why he hadn't awoken yet, only that 'he would when he was ready'.

Ben Tennyson didn't believe in doctors. Sure, they could patch you up but when they couldn't tell you what was wrong after test after test after test, well, that's when he started to lose faith. Ben never really believed in any faith, after all, the idea that some great and all powerful deity controlled him was something he couldn't believe. A man created his own destiny... But maybe sometimes it was worth a shot; religious beliefs of prayer and intervention. Seeing his best friend lying comatose while his cousin sat there, almost catatonic, for the first time Ben prayed to anyone and any thing, to a God, a Buddha, to an almighty deity, heck, at one point he prayed to the makers of Sumo Slammers, for someone, anyone, to help save his friends.

_Pink tendrils of manna flew around the room, shooting through consoles and walls like paper, destroying everything it touched. Blazing like an inferno, like a terrible train wreck, the sheer destructive power of a simple teenager was insane and impossible to look away. Then again, Gwen Tennyson was not a simple teenager. _

_"You come here, hurt my friends and try to destroy my planet. When will you understand, we just want you to go away!" The young girls voice resonated around the room, booming with an ancient power as the anger consumed her. Shedding her human form, freeing the Anodite within and the full potential of her power, Gwen turned to face Ragnorok, ready to give him hell for all the trouble he had caused. _

_Seeing the transformation set the alien on edge but no tout of fear. No, in this form he could practically feel the energy rolling off of her in wave sending his senses into overload. Standing to face the young hybrid, ready for the surge of power feeding from her would bring, Ragnorok began to smile. He could definitely see why the young Levin kept her around, power like this was limitless. Forgetting all about draining the sun, he began formulating a new plan, one to drain the Anodite. _

The sky outside was beginning to darken and before long Ben knew the orderlies would begin ushering visitors out meaning Ben would have to go home and leave Gwen to go back upstairs where she was being kept for 'observation' on the psych ward. She hadn't been the same since they'd gotten back, it was like a part of her had been left up on the ship.

_Tightening his grip around the energy being Ragnorok sneered at the child in front of him. She was strong, so much power, more than he was used to. He'd bet she didn't even know how strong she was, 'No wonder why lover boy's infatuated with her,' he thought knowing the energy was like a siren's call. Attempting to escape the villain's grip, streaks of light shot through the air at the will of the Anodite only to be absorbed by the Osmosian in front of her. Gwen was in big trouble now. She felt weak, like somehow her power were being contain, being... _Absorbed! _Struggling to break free, to save herself, Gwen pulled on her arm with all she had left, every spell she could remember and a few that she was making up but it seemed like the more energy she put into trying to escape the death grip around her forearm the weaker she got. And the stronger Ragnorok became. _

_"Hmm, a feisty one, aren't you? Oh, the things I would do..."_

_Neither alien seemed to notice the younger Osmosian standing against the wall, fighting the waves of nausea threatening to overwhelm him. Watching Ragnorok hurt the... Well if they were going to die here, he may as well be honest with himself, the girl he loved left Kevin seeing red, how dare he touch her! This bastard was going to pay, first his Dad, now Gwen, everything good in his life was destroyed by this monster! 'Better to focus on that,' he thought trying to avoid the fact Gwen had taken her Anodite form which probably scared him just as much as the thought of loosing her. Hearing Ragnorok's comment was all Kevin needed to throw himself at the alien and protect Gwen. Grabbing the elder Osmosians arm, wrenching it away from Gwen, Kevin could swear that for a moment he saw fear reflected in the eyes in front of him, "Let. Her. Go!"_

The hallways were silent this late at night and, barring some emergency, no one would notice one patient wandering the halls if only for a moment. Two flights of stairs and one close call later Gwen was standing in the door of Kevin's room, only the monitors breaking the silence. Rubbing the large bruise covering most of her arm Gwen made her way to the chair that hadn't been moved from the side of the bed and walked straight past it, instead stopping next to the bed. Pausing for a moment Gwen stepped out of the fuzzy slippers her mother insisted she wear and sat on the bed, waiting for someone to stop her or something to happen before she moved closer to the motionless figure in the bed, lying down as close as she could.

_Throwing Ragnorok across the room had been easy, smashing him into the wall repeatedly had been a cinch, hearing Gwen cry out was heart breaking. Turning around he saw her, cradling her human shell starring at him. If Anodite's could cry he'd swear she was, tilting her head to the side looking up at him._

_"Is this what you want? To kill him?"_

_Tightening his grip around the villain's neck he turned away, "He needs to pay for what he's done."_

_"Kevin! We don't kill, what give us that right? That's not what Plumbers do, not what your dad would want."_

_"You don't know a thing about him!" He yelled, throwing Ragnorok into another wall, hearing a sickening crunch as he fell to the floor. Turning around, Kevin faced the young Anodite once more seeing her sway as she tried to stand. Surging forward he managed to catch her before she hit the ground only to pull her close as he sank to the floor. She was weak from Ragnorok's attack and the strain was making it difficult for her to return to her human form, Kevin knew they were in dangerous territory now, if she couldn't change back she'd go mad from the power coursing through her veins. _

Looking down at her hand lying on his shoulder, Gwen shuddered at the memory. She was weaker, Kevin was the strong one. Even the side of her that wanted to protest that women were equal to men acknowledged that Kevin was the exception to the rule. After everything he'd been through, the fact that he was still here, still fighting, was a testament to his strength. Now if only he'd wake up.

_Looking up, Gwen tried to raise a hand to gain Kevin's attention. She could see his lips moving but couldn't make out the words, everything was muffled, like she was hearing everything underwater. She didn't notice him looking down at her or the panicked expression he wore as she slowly closed her eyes and wondering if he could hear her whisper, "But I know _you_."_

_"Oh no you don't! Come on, Gwen, open your eyes. Come on." He called to her, shaking her lightly at first but quickly becoming more desperate as he vaguely recognised Ben waking and calling out about his cousin. Picking her up he turned to the younger teen, neither spoke for they both knew what the other was thinking. Gwen was in trouble. She was the main priority now. She had to be saved._

_Running out of the room and back toward the shuttle bay Gwen began to stir in Kevin's arms. Slowing down the duo glanced around, seeing the coast was clear, Kevin began to set down the young girl, propping her up against the wall as Ben tried to rouse her further. _

_All around her was dark, she could hear voices but couldn't connect who was saying what in her mind, she could barely even make out what they were saying. Wracking her brain for something, anything, to hold on to she came up empty handed. Without any idea of who she was or even where she was she felt weak and wanted nothing more than to fall back into the comforting darkness but something wouldn't let her. There was something she had to do, it was urgent but she wasn't quite sure what. Taking a deep breath she felt a tingling sensation all across her body, not exactly unpleasant but definitely not anything she like to repeat anytime soon. Opening her eyes slowly she found herself looking into the darkest eyes she had ever seen and suddenly everything fell into place, who she was, where she was, what was happening. Smiling up at the boy in front of her, everything made sense; this was why she had to wake up. Because Kevin was here..._

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**A/N2: Yeah, it's a cliffhanger, shoot me... Actually please don't. It's my birthday in a few hours and I'm kinda proud I made it to 18. That said, a review would be a great birthday gift *Hint Hint***


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Can I get an award here? I've never updated this fast... Anyway here it is. I'm fairly happy with it and I hope you guys are too. Once again, this is for Samantha, hell the entire thing can be for her. She's that awesome. **

**Disclaimer is in chapter one...**

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"Are_ you okay?" Ben asked, sneaking a glance at Kevin who looked as confused as he felt. Just before Gwen opened her eyes she... Well, he wasn't exactly sure what happened. It was if she was breathing in manna from all around her, including him and Kevin. He'd have to ask her about it later, right now they should get moving._

_"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine actually. What happened?" She asked, holding onto Kevin as she stood, closing her eyes against the wave of vertigo. _

_"We were kind hoping you could tell us." Kevin answered, helping Gwen as they walked the rest of the distance to the shuttle bay._

Her eyes stung from a mixture of the tears and the sheer force of keeping them open. She refused to close her eyes, every time she did, even for a moment, the horror story from the ship played out again and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't stop it but she couldn't watch him... She couldn't even think it. Burrowing herself even closer, she resigned herself to having to relive it all again.

_Just as they were about to hit the release button, opening the door to the last remaining escape pod a shot of lightning fried the door. Behind them stood Ragnorok, leaning against the wall, heavily breathing and holding onto his ribs as if he were trying to hold himself together. "You're not going anywhere."_

_As Ragnorok raised his arm the air grew thick, Ben could taste the static of electricity and Gwen wasn't sure if time had slowed down or sped up but all Kevin could see was the mass of energy Ragnorok was aiming at them. Wait, not at them. At Gwen. _

_Without thinking, without hesitation he turned his back to the villain, shielding Gwen as best as he could from the blast and hoping that Ben had stayed far enough out of the way knowing that his changed form would protect him to some extent. But simply covering her wasn't enough to keep her safe, letting go of her he threw his arms out wide and turned to face Ragnorok, knowing that his next move was the only way they'd be able to get out of here. It didn't matter that it was stupid. Or that it might cost his life. No, all that mattered was that Gwen was safe. _

_With this thought spurring him on, Kevin began absorbing the pure energy that was being fired at him._

Moving her head from the now sodden patch of his hospital gown Gwen moved her hand to rest along his jaw, much like she had done on that ship what felt like life times ago. Moving his arm so it lay draped across her she wondered, not for the first time, why he was so stupid and careless and why she was still in love with him.

_Every nerve was burning and pain filled all his senses, the pure power flowing through him felt like blades, shredding him apart, piece by piece. He could feel the seductive pull of the energy, begging him to embrace it but instead of tried to siphon it away, not caring about the damage to the corridors or himself but about the safety of the two cousins behind him who he hoped had the sense to get out of there while they still could. _

_Unfortunately, it would seem luck wasn't on his side as her could hear Gwen screaming out for him stop and Ben struggling with her. Glancing over his should her saw Ben holding her back and she was literally kicking and screaming to get to him. _

_Gritting his teeth against the pain he tried to yell over the noise in his ears, "Gwen! Get outta here!"_

_"I'm not leaving you!" Her voice broke and wavered as she called back to him, desperate to save him, determined not to leave him, not after she'd already been so close to losing him, to leaving him behind. Whatever they faced they faced it together, she wouldn't leave him._

_Rolling his eyes at the two, Ben decided it was up to him to be the voice of reason. "Guys, noble sentiments are great and all but if we don't get out of here in the next five minutes we're all toast either way!"_

_Kevin looked at the walls around him and understood what Ben meant, the amount of damage he'd already done by trying to disperse the energy was critical, holes blown through sections of the corridor, the only thing keeping the air inside was the protective force field around the ship although the oxygen levels were dipping dangerously low. Taking as deep a breath as he could manage Kevin stopped deflecting the energy, instead embracing it. He could feel it gathering within him, the electricity dancing across his skin, making itself well acquainted with it's new host. Absorbing as much as he could manage, Kevin titled his head, catching sight of the two teens in the edge of his peripheral vision. "Get down, stay down and close your eyes!" _

_Turning back to the madman in front of his Kevin carried on absorbing the attack, seeing how the older Osmosian was being to tire. Without checking to see if his friends had obeyed his instruction he began summoning the energy in his hands, remembering the damage he could cause with the simplest of thoughts and the smallest flick of his fingers as a child. He was older now, he could control it. _

_At least he hoped he could. _

_Holding on for as long as he could Kevin waited for his shot, he would only get one chance at this. The moment the Ragnorok let down his guard and stopped firing at him, that would be his moment. The teen didn't have long to wait as only moments after he had steeled his resolve he felt the wavering of the energy beam and before he had chance to second guess himself Kevin pulled on everything he had and fired at the villain stood in front of him. The sheer force of the initial hit caused Ragnorok to stumble backwards and before he had time to regain his footing Kevin fired the energy back twice as hard, ripping the walls apart completely, destroying the structural integrity and putting everyone at risk but Kevin didn't notice. All he saw was the endless supply of power within him, it felt like his very skin was being stripped from his body, a quick glance told him that the minerals encasing his body were in fact still there. _

_Images danced before Kevin's eyes, ones of his father at the dinning table smiling, of Ben surrounded by Mr Smoothie cups in his garage, of Gwen in that small swim suit she wore by the lake once, of his mother weeding the garden. They flitted past so fast that before he had chance to really look at what was in front of him the moment had passed. It didn't matter though, these images reminded him of what he was fighting for, why he had to hold on and before he knew it the endless stream of energy began to slow down, it became easier to control. It was running out._

_Manipulating the stream to encompass the villain Kevin felt himself growing weaker but refused to stop, not until Ragnorok had been dealt with, which by the looks of things wouldn't take much longer. The older Osmosian had exhausted himself after his energy attack and that added his previous injuries meant that lees than a minute later the villain had completely lost consciousness. Not that Kevin was that far behind him. Practically falling against the wall he slid down, resting his head against the metal beam behind him. Most of the ship had been destroyed and with the end imminent Kevin felt no need to rush anywhere. Especially after seeing the remains of the only escape pod._

_Ben looked up after a moment of silence and seeing the state of the ship feared the worse. Letting go of Gwen he stood to survey the damage and saw their only means of escape float past him, "Great plan, genius! Now how do we get out?"_

_Turning to face the younger teen but without opening his eyes he shot back, "You think I planned to destroy the place! You're stuck here now and-ah!" Pulling his legs up to his chest quickly and hunching over Kevin tried to shrink away from the pain in his abdomen. Gwen rushed over to his side, trying to pull his hands away to see what had happened but pulled away, her hands warm and wet and red. And covered in Kevins blood. _

_Lodged in his stomach was a rather large piece of shrapnel and the large quantities of blood leaking out and onto the floor was worrying. Sure, they had their fair share of scrapes and bruises, it would be stupid to think they'd get away unharmed after fighting various villains on a daily basis but never had something like this happened. This was serious, Kevin could die. _

_Ben seemed to be thinking the same thing, his face was several shade paler as he looked toward the teary eyed face of his cousin, "What are we gonna do? How are we gonna get out of here?"_

_The helpless feeling was making itself at home in the pit of Bens stomach, spinning around, trying to find some way to escape that they hadn't already noticed. It seemed hopeless, the ship was damaged beyond repair and the force field, their last defense against the harsh reality of space and death, was already beginning to falter. Maybe this was it, the last stand they'd make together, the end of the teen hero and his two best friends. Avoiding looking at his cousin he made his way over to where Kevin was half draped across Gwen and sat down sighing._

_"There's nothing, we're stuck here."_

_"I think that's where I come in." _

_Even Kevin in his half conscious state heard the voice, looking up to see a small white ship and knew they'd be okay. That Gwen and Ben would be okay. Squinting slightly Ben could make out the form of the pilot, the same man who the voice belonged to. Once again Grandpa Max had saved them._

Tracing mindless patterns across Kevin's shoulder Gwen noticed the room seemed to be getting lighter and knew she'd have to be leaving soon if she were to make it back to her room unnoticed. The way the sun landed on his face, casting shadows over his sunken cheeks and stretching his eyelashes, the way it highlighted the small scar by his hairline and made the lingering bruise on his cheek stand out, Gwen made sure to memorize it all. She knew every feature already, every scar and the number of flecks in his eyes. She knew more details about this boy than was probably normal but the one thing she still didn't know was why he did what he did. He didn't have to help them, put himself in harms way day after day but he did. She liked to think it was because of her, because he liked her but seeing him in what could quite possibly be his deathbed she wondered if him doing this for her would be such a good thing. If that would make it her fault he was here.

_Struggling to carry the larger teen toward the open door of the rescue ship, Ben tried not to think of the logic behind how this ship would work, stranger things had happened. Gwen, however, was too busy worrying about Kevin, his breathing was shallow and the large pool of blood they'd left behind was just another reminder of how close they were to losing him. _

_Entering the ship they sat him down, balancing him against the wall while Gwen held him up, afraid to let go for fear he'd disappear. Ben rushed over to Max telling him about Kevin and the events from the ship, hoping that he couldn't hear the tremble in his voice when talking about his best friend's serious injuries._

_Raising a hand to the older teens cheek she tried to stop her own tears from falling, noticing how pale his face had become, how cold he was. "Hold on Kevin. We're nearly home now, just hold on." Whispering over and over again, not sure who she was trying to convince more, Gwen almost missed Kevin shifting in her arms, trying to get a better view of her face._

_"Gwen, listen. I want you to know-"_

_Save it, tell me when we get back home."_

_"I was gonna say 'it's not your fault'." _

_"Oh, right," dropping her head and avoiding his gaze a light blush appeared over Gwen's cheeks. _

_Raising a shaky hand Kevin pulled her face towards his and, despite his rapidly fading strength, smirk still in place. Fighting against the black that almost completely covered his vision he drew in what could be his last breath, wanting, _needing_, to tell her. _

_"Gwen?"_

_"Yes," it was more a sigh than a reply, leaning in to his touch further as his thumb brush her tears across her face, unable to dry them as they were being replaced faster the he thought possible. _

_Trying to draw on some unused strength for the courage he needed he began, cursing the way he could barely string three words together without choking. "Thank you, for everything. For trusting me, for... keeping me around. I just want to say, I need to tell you... Gwen. I lo-" _

_"Kevin? Kevin! Come on.." Slapping his face lightly to wake him up, he'd passed out before he had finished telling her what was so important. Panicking when he didn't respond immediately she started to shake him, at first softly but as the seconds passed she grew desperate. She was so focused on the teen in front of her she didn't notice the massive shock wave of energy coming from the remains of Ragnorok's ship. Or how it had affected Grandpa Max' ship._

_"Kevin? Kevin, please, don't do this. Not now. Come on, Kevin please. I need you, we need you. Wake up, please. I can't lose you, not now. Don't leave me. I-I love you. Kevin, I love you. Come on..."_

_At some point Ben had come in and grabbed her and Kevin. Then they were on Earth. Everything was blurring, seconds merging together and the ground was spinning. Swallowing back the nausea threatening to cripple her, Gwen briefly registered Ben telling her that the systems on Grandpa Max's ship had been disrupted by the aftermath of the explosion. How they'd been 'beamed off' of the ship and some vague Star Trek references. All Gwen could see was Kevin, her best friend, dying in front of her. Nothing else mattered. They had to save him. _

It was a miracle that they gotten Kevin here, Gwen could barely remember the journey here. The rising sun was casting a warm glow around the room, setting everything ablaze in beautiful shades of red and orange. Ghosting her fingertips down the side of his face Gwen started to pull back, untangling the two of them, preparing to leave again. Squeezing her eyes closed to stop tears from falling, Gwen leaned down, pressing a small kiss to the corner of Kevin's mouth before pulling back.

"I love you." She whispered, breath fanning across his face. Opening her eyes she felt her heart sink seeing that he was still unconscious. She didn't know what she was expecting, this wasn't a fairytale. No amount of kisses were going to fix this, no matter how much she may have wished it to. Turning around, Gwen left the room without looking back knowing that if she did she'd never leave.

If she had turned around, she would have seen Kevin's hand twitching, waiting for her hand to fill it and a corner of his mouth start to move up into a smile, dreaming of angels with red hair kissing him, begging him to wake up.

But she didn't. She had already left, running away from her feelings, the same dance she and Kevin had been playing for years now. Only now she didn't have a partner. Not more than a minute after the girl had left did the older teen breathe out her name like a prayer. He knew what he had to do. He had to wake up. Because Gwen was there and she needed him.

"_Gwen._"

* * *

**A/N2: And that's a wrap. Thank you for anyone who has stayed with this from the beginning and to all those who joined in halfway through. Let me know if you want an epilogue, I should get it to you some time in the next decade. Please review, they're like oxygen and I can barely breathe... Damn cold...**


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